With First Massachusetts Cohort, Apprenti Aims to Fill the Tech Talent Gap

July 12, 2019

Clyde Freeman had a traditional education. He graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in finance. From there, he jumped from job to job, applying his financial knowledge at various companies. While he was working at Fidelity, the Boston-based wealth management giant, he realized he had another calling.

Freeman enrolled in CodeSquad, a Boston nonprofit that trains adults in full-stack web development through a bootcamp. It was there that he began to combine his artistic background—he likes to draw—with his new technical know-how. He began to envision a career in tech.

The founder of CodeSquad evidently saw Freeman’s potential: After the bootcamp graduation, he told Freeman about a new program that was coming to Massachusetts. It was called Apprenti, and it would be the first-ever tech apprenticeship program in the state.

Apprenti has been around for four years, having originally launched under the Washington Technology Industry Association in Washington state. In 2016, the program won a $7.5 million contract from the federal Department of Labor to expand nationwide. Today, Apprenti has active operations in 12 locations.